Dept. of Internet Ministry News

This article about Antiochian.org is intended for our many department chairs, ministry leaders, and active members across the country who want to use the Internet to communicate about their work. It is being published in the June issue of The Word.

Our team working on the Archdiocese website, www.Antiochian.org, launched a new design early this year, and introduced our vision for the ministry of the Church on the Internet in the March 2008 issue of The Word. We’re continuing to work on many projects and changes that we pray will be of great benefit to our collective witness for our Lord in this land. My goal here is to give all of you in the Archdiocese with an active role in our communications with each other, with the Church as a whole, and with the world beyond, the information you need about our department and our approach in order to work with us to strengthen our online voice.

“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols . Therefore he reasoned . . . in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there . ” Acts 17: 16-17

Throughout the New Testament, we find stories of St. Paul making use of the tools of his day to communicate the Gospel and engage in the marketplace of ideas. From ships to the postal service, St. Paul used the communications systems of the Roman Empire in service of our Lord Jesus Christ. This model continues to guide the Church today, as we seek to use well the tools of our society to communicate with each other, and with the world beyond. The most significant communications technology of today is also the one that is so new that we are still coming to grips with its place in our lives: the Internet.

Well over a billion people across the world are estimated to have used the Internet in December of 2007 alone, including 250 million North Americans, over 70% of our continent’s population. An Internet business expert recently noted that, “the Internet is one big gigantic never-ending computer conference call, with people joining in and dropping out all the time.” This raises an important question for us at the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America: “What do we have to say?” The answer is, “A lot!”